Reuters - Daily Briefing By Kate Turton - Trump's tariff announcement, Wisconsin votes in a high-profile judicial race after millions spent by Musk - China calls Taiwan's president a 'parasite' as it launches military drills around the island.

 

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. As the world braces for Trump's tariff announcement, our live blog is covering the latest while our graphics team asks, what typically happens when tariffs are applied? Elsewhere, Wisconsin votes in a high-profile judicial race after millions spent by Musk, and China calls Taiwan's president a 'parasite' as it launches military drills around the island. Plus, anime and mascots: Japan hopes 'oshikatsu' rage will open consumer wallets.

Today's Top News   Elon Musk gives a check to an audience member during a rally in support of a conservative state Supreme Court candidate. REUTERS/Vincent Alban United States Wisconsin voters will choose a new justice for the state's top court in a race that offers an early referendum on US President Donald Trump's second term, with abortion rights, labor rights and election rules all potentially in the balance. Senate Republicans will ask their chamber's nonpartisan referee this week to weigh in on a controversial plan to make Trump's expiring 2017 tax cuts permanent, which critics say could lead to trillions of dollars in additional debt. The Trump administration has warned suppliers to US embassies and consulates as well as recipients of US grants worldwide that they must comply with its ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes or risk losing payments. In other news China staged military drills off Taiwan's north, south and east coasts as a "stern warning" against separatism and called Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a "parasite," as Taiwan sent warships to respond to China's navy approaching its shores. China and Russia are "friends forever, never enemies," Chinese's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in remarks published during a visit to Moscow in which he also welcomed signs of normalising ties between Washington and Moscow. Ukraine will work with the US towards a mutually acceptable text of a minerals deal that the two countries can sign, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said. Meanwhile, the Kremlin says Russia continues to speak with Americans as Trump threatens secondary sanctions. Greenland will strengthen its ties with Denmark until it can become a sovereign nation, the Arctic island's incoming prime minister told Reuters, noting that the semi-autonomous Danish territory ultimately wants to become independent. An Israeli airstrike killed four people including a Hezbollah official in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Lebanese security source said, further testing a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Business & Markets   US M&A volumes tumble 13%, Europe up 7%, Asia-Pacific jumps 92%. REUTERS/File Photo A global trade war kicked off by Trump and the ensuing market turmoil soured bankers' predictions for a robust start to a blockbuster year for deals on Wall Street. First-quarter mergers and acquisitions volume rose 12.6% to $984.38 billion from year-ago period, Dealogic data compiled for Reuters showed.  SoftBank-owned chip tech provider Arm Holdings recently sought to acquire Alphawave, a UK-based supplier of semiconductor intellectual property, to secure a crucial technology that is crucial for building its own artificial-intelligence processors, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Tesla's sales in France and Sweden fell year-on-year for a third consecutive month in March, contributing to the lowest first-quarterly sales figures in the two countries since 2021 for Elon Musk's electric car brand. Britain handed Italian defense company Leonardo a $213 million contract extension to maintain the Royal Navy's fleet of 54 Merlin helicopters, a deal which it said would help support 1,000 jobs across the country. Shares of US drugmakers fell after reports that the Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine official, Peter Marks, had been forced to resign. Listen to Global Health Editor Michele Gershberg on the Reuters World News podcast as she looks at why this FDA shakeup is rattling investors. Drugmakers are lobbying Trump to phase in tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products in hopes of reducing the sting from the charges and to allow time to shift manufacturing, according to four sources familiar with the discussions.

Law firms hire former Tesla lawyer and top conservative litigator for Trump fight   The law firm Jenner & Block LLP in Washington, D.C. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo As the Trump administration strikes at US law firms with a wave of executive orders, three firms challenging those orders have retained a former Tesla general counsel, a longtime conservative litigator and other top lawyers to represent them. Read more

And Finally... Momoka Matsui and her co-worker Saki Matsumoto take photos of acrylic stand figure models of their favorite idols with cakes and teas, Tokyo. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon In Japan, policymakers and economists are paying close attention to the "oshikatsu" phenomenon as a growing driver of consumer spending. Oshikatsu, which entered the mainstream lexicon during the pandemic, has economists and even the Bank of Japan taking note for its potential to prop up Japan's tepid consumption. Read more

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